Electron beam induced current measurements of minority carrier diffusion length in gallium nitride

Abstract

Minority carrier diffusion length in epitaxial GaN layers was measured as a function of majority carrier concentration and temperature. The diffusion length of holes in n-type GaN is found to decrease from 3.4 to 1.2 μm in the doping range of 5×1015–2×1018 cm−3. The experimental results can be fitted by assuming the Einstein relation and by the experimental dependence of hole mobilities on carrier concentration. The low injection carrier lifetime of ∼15 ns, used in the fit, is largely independent of the doping level. The diffusion length, measured for ∼5×1015 and 2×1018 cm−3 dopant concentrations, shows an increase with increasing temperature, characterized by an activation energy Ea of ∼90 meV, independent of the impurity concentration.